My name is Don DeLeva, I am a Seattle based artist. I work mainly in acrylic on wood panel. My art vacillates between POP Surrealism and abstraction mainly focusing on portraits and the visualization of personality and perspective. Recently, I have been bringing both styles together to create a fuller more vibrant image. This site is dedicated to the ideas that inspire my work art. Thank you for visiting.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

I don't have too much news today being I have been working for the last 10 days straight(except yesterday). I do have 4 paintings I am working on right now hopfully I will have some new work to show you in the next month.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I've been working a lot in the last few weeks. All though that means I can finaly eat it also means I haven't been bloging much. Well I have been painting quite a bit. I would say in the last4 weeks I have started 4 paintings, finished 3 worked into 3 and still have not come to a conclusion on " Salmon eater". I have been toying with the idea of leaving the thin veil of white over the image but people seem to mistake the work for not being finished. Its interesting to me how people do not seem to be intersted in coming up with there own conclusions about paintings. Poeple can be so afriad of "being wrong". I say there are some things that are meant to be made personal and my art is one of those things. So if you need more explaining I can only give you what I was thinking of at the time. If this is written wonky its because I did it from my phone and my phone does not display a cursor in this text box. Forgive. Me

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

This is the next progression of the Salmon Eater. A new title is starting to arise from it, Gold Lust.
You can still see the original composition hasn't changed too much but the integration of the bottom part of the painting is starting to become a part of the work.

I don't know if the work is finished, I like the misty quality and the sloppy suggestions of shapes that become foundations for defined images. I need to sit with it for awhile.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

So the Skull painting is finished. I forgot so take photos of the progress while painting it. See the problem is that I finished it in one sitting, I usually take photos after each sitting. Oh well I will get it right.
Salmon Eater has not been changed yet. It needed to dry a little, this time I will take pictures.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Painting 1. is a finished painting called Salmon Eater.
Painting 2. is what happens to works that sit in my studio too long.
They get sanded and changed into another painting. LOL!

Painting 3. This is the 3rd stage in the repainting. Notice how it is starting to look completely different. As I paint my subject changes because I really don't ever have a subject to paint this is why it is hard for me to create illustrations. My mind wanders with my immediate feelings and "findings".
I paint shapes and lines or do something to the surface like scratch it. Some times those elements suggest images to me so I go with them until I get board with what I am painting and some times I end the work or end the progression of an image.

I am not looking for a finished recognizable image, rather I seek the ephemeral or enigma. I am looking for that place before something becomes a materialized image or thought. I am interested in moment before you label something and attach preconceived ideas and classifications to it.

Monday, October 25, 2010

At this point you can see that I have scratched in a skull and then dripped paint over the panel. I used a very "loose" paint to drip an organic grid for me to work with. ( in the same way that bones are an organic scaffolding for the muscles.)
The paint is oil, it's 1 part paint to 6 parts turpentine. It's called lean paint because the oil has been broken down in favor of flow and dying speed.
There is a process of painting called "Lean to fat", it's a process that insures that the paint will dry correctly. For now, just understand that loose paint in the beginning is really important to the longevity of the style of painting I work in, "Glazing". I will go over that in the a little later.

I have had a lot of people ask me to show them how I paint. I am going to try to answer that by taking you through a painting from start to finish.

This is a photo of a piece of Masonite that used to be a scrap piece of Scratch board sitting on my easel.
Some times I find things and work over them. At this point I have done nothing to the Masonite.

"16. If words are used, and they proceed from ideas about art, then they are art and not literature; numbers are not mathematics. "Sol De Witt

Numbers are not mathematics in my art. They are representations of emotions mixed with mystery. They come to me as I am painting and I feel it is important to include them in the content of the work because they came to me in the creative process.

Monday, October 18, 2010

This is simply the most incredible video I have seeing in the last 10 years of my life. 2 of my all time heroes in life together playing one of the best songs ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSLwhnUiNDs

Saturday, October 9, 2010

SO my website is almost finished. Actually I got the front page and supplemental pages completed except the Archive and Dollhedz page. These will be finished up in the next month. I created the templates for the pages so it shouldn't take too much time once I get other work out of the way.
These last 2 weeks have been crazy. I had 3 shows to put up a cold and 14 days of work in a row. That takes a lot out of you. Today is the first time back doing some painting. I have 3 new works in the studio I will photo them and give you an update.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Title: Untitled
Medium: Oil on panel, gold leaf
Size: 42"x46"

This painting is comes to me as an abstracted Mecha coming alive for the first time.

Title: Untitled2
Medium: Oil on panel
Size: 28"x36"

I have this thing for abstracting skulls, it's a reference to the fact that our bones supports a bio machine that runs a spirit. The abstracted shapes and colors are the live with in the scaffolding of the bio machine.

Here is one of the first pieces I painted this year. It's had 3 shows this year. 2 in Seattle and one in Portland. It has one more show before the year is over. You can see the earlier stages of this painting in an earlier blog. It was originally two paintings that I painted over and bolted together.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

It's been along time since I gave you any updates at all. I am really sorry about that. I have had a lot of things going on, most of them have centered around the art of computer graphics and Flash.
For those of you that think I have given up on my quest for truth and using my freedom of expression, I say to you Have more faith in me! Flash and code only add to my skills of fine art. You will see the results of this soon with my short movies.
It takes money and reinvention to be good at what you do, these are the things I have been working on. They insure that I paint as honest as I can. Last year I found myself starting to lean towards selling painting to make ends meet. That became painfully obvious that I have a limited audience for my fine art. Since honesty is the only thing we have in this world I have decided to preserve mine and paint what comes from my head and heart. Computer graphics is my business. It is the money maker that keeps my art honest, it is my way of in visioning what people what and using my skills to bring their vision to life. Its not about me.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

My website will soon be going through some changes in a good way. I think I will be changing Dollhedz.com into a Flash Factory. As ActionScript be comes more of an art tool for me I will be posting my experiments in code their. I also might change the name from dollhedz to some thing else, but I am not at the stage just yet.
I have lots of new work but I have not had time to take photos, I swear I will soon.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

It's been a little while since I picked up a brush and painted in oils. I forgot how nice it is to make what ever mark I want, when ever I want. For example, In oils I get the option of wiping out what I painted last night in a way that looks like I never purposefully painted it, like it was a some "happy mistake". Adding volume and light in oils the next day is a luxury since doing the same in acrylics means layering. Brush strokes in acrylics leave shapes, in oils brush strokes can be turned into hazy light or shadow very easily. There might be a way to do it in acrylics but it always look purposeful.
If I had to compare the 2 to drawing, Oils are like charcoal or pencil and acrylic is like ink and markers. There might be a way to do it in acrylics but always look purposeful.
My Acrylics still have a ways to go. I would like to take them past illustrations in to the realm of good acrylic paintings, meaning paintings that exemplify acrylic. When I get there I will let you know.
I have so wanted to be a good painter like Rembrandt and Caravaggio, but it was in their genes and their times. My paintings are made by electric light and manufactured paint and my jeans are made by Levi, which can't be torn apart by a horse...at least that's what the label says. ;-)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

So this year in October I have 2 big shows, one is at the City of Auburn Galleries and the second is at the La Familia gallery. I just got the 2010 city of Auburn gallery announcement in the mail, its always sweet to see your work in print when some one else prints it. ToooT ToooT.
I am starting a plan for a redesign of my website. So it might be a little while before I list new work.
Stay tuned

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Here is some news,
I had a painting accepted into the CVG gallery show in Bremerton, curated by Gary Faigin. The painting is "Psycho and Zephretti" oil on panel. I have a photo of it at my website. www.dondeleva.com . The show will be on up in February.
I all so got a show at the Georgetown Limited Gallery in Seattle for July. Proceeds support the TheyShallWalk.org .
I swear I have some work finished I just have to find the time to shoot it. Its coming!